26 Jun
2006
26 Jun
'06
3:14 p.m.
Scott Quinn wrote:
that's why I'm particularly interested in it - I've got several machines
around that use bridge boards where I don't have the original media and so
can't back them up (or even if I could back them up, can't format + restore
data to a new drive)
I read Chuck's message as asking why the Macs used such boards though, at a
stage when others were using more capable drives (IDE or SCSI) - in which case
the answer is probably "because they were cheap".
But why anyone would want to set up something
with an ST-412 interface on
the far end at this late date is beyond me.
it would allow you to pull data off
of a ST412-interface drive onto a modern one for backup. If you didn't have to reformat the drive (not sure
how the bridgeboards
worked in this respect),
ISTR that it's generally a 'format unit' SCSI command that you issue to the
bridge board, and it takes care of the rest. So in the case of no OS media or
native disk utils, I could in theory back up a drive up using a PC, and then
format a replacement drive via the PC to the system's expected geometry, copy
the raw data back on, and expect it to work on the target system (providing
the same model bridge board is used throughout)
In lieu of a generic ST506 PC interface that can mimic different bridge
boards, it seems the only way to deal with such systems where the install
media / tools have long gone.
The other thing I could think of is perhaps SunOS
would have a Data
Systems Design driver and I could drop the IRIS controller
in a VTM (VME to Multibus) adaptor and archive it that way . . . but a
bridgeboard would be nice if it worked.
Finding the different bridge boards isn't *that* difficult - the problem
really boils down to a software one in terms of Linux drivers.
try scsiadd - Debian supports it, anyway.
thanks - will take a look!
cheers
Jules